Hanna completes double at Silverstone with British F4 victory

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Salim Hanna claimed a dominant victory in a frantic second British Formula 4 race at Silverstone to double up in the non-championship British Grand Prix support event.

Starting third on the grid following a penalty for team-mate Martin Molnar, the Virtuosi Racing driver would finish over five seconds clear of second-placed Tommy Harfield.

After Adam Al Azhari spun at Club during the formation lap, polesitter Fionn McLaughlin led the field from Hanna who got the jump on Harfield at lights out.

Hanna soon looked to pass McLaughlin, the Irishman defenceless as the Colombian shot passed on the inside of Becketts to steal the lead away.

Thomas Bearman looked to make progress from his fourth-place grid slot. The Hitech driver, battling with Rowan Campbell-Pilling, was forced onto the gravel at Woodcote and dropped down to seventh.

McLaughlin was struggling too, also passed by Campbell-Pilling into Abbey and shortly after found himself losing a position to Molnar. Not long after, the Red Bull junior pulled into the pits and retired with a mechanical issue.

The yellow flags briefly came out at Club following contact between Charlie Edge and Jaber Alsabah, the former spinning round at Club and re-joining at the rear of the field.

With Hanna extending his lead to over three seconds up ahead with six minutes to go, Bearman began challenging Molnar for fourth having produced an impressive recovery drive. Heading into Luffield, the Hitech driver passed Molnar on the inside to promote himself to fourth.

As the clock hit zero, Harfield found himself under pressure from Campbell-Pilling with 0.8s separating the pair going onto the final lap.

Hanna though remained untroubled, crossing the line with a 5.5-second gap to Harfield, who held second place by half a second over Campbell-Pilling.

Bearman recovered to fourth while Molnar behind rounded out the top five. Ary Bansal came in sixth with Leo Robinson in seventh, 3.1 seconds separating seventh to 11th on the line.

Race results